HBA-SEP, CBW H.B. 122 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 122
By: West, George "Buddy"
Land and Resource Management
7/10/2001
Enrolled



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Prior to the 77th Legislature, state law provided that before land owned by
a political subdivision of the state could be sold or exchanged for other
land, notice to the general public of the offer of land for sale or
exchange must be published.  In many cases, nonprofit entities had
difficulty acquiring the property because they were outbid by other public
or private entities.  House Bill 122 permits a municipality with a
population of less than 1.9 million to transfer property to a nonprofit
organization without complying with existing notice and bidding
requirements.   

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 122 amends the Local Government Code to authorize a municipality
with a population of less than 1.9 million to transfer real property or an
interest in real property to a nonprofit organization without complying
with existing notice and bidding requirements for a political subdivision
of the state or other law. The bill requires that consideration for the
transfer be in the form of an agreement between the parties that requires
the nonprofit organization to use the property in a manner that primarily
promotes a public purpose of the municipality.  The bill requires the
municipality to transfer the property by an appropriate instrument of
transfer.  The bill provides that the instrument of transfer must  include
a provision that requires the nonprofit organization to use the property in
a manner that primarily promotes a public purpose of the municipality and
indicates that failure to use the property in such a  manner at any time
will result in the property automatically reverting to the municipality.
If the real property to be transferred lies outside the municipality's
corporate limits and outside the county where 80 percent of the
municipality's residents reside, the municipality must obtain the consent
of the county commissioner's court in the county where the real property is
located.   

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.